Go Into The Story

What makes a movie a big budget and a small budget?

There are critical choices a writer can make at the script stage which directly influence a project’s budget… and its potential viability…

Video: “9 Rules For Good Exposition”

Another in the excellent screenwriting series Raising the Stakes.

Page One: “Rain Man” (1988)

Screenplay by Ron Bass and Barry Morrow, story by Barry Morrow

The Curse of Shiny Object Syndrome

“It’s not quite ADD/ADHD. It’s more that a new idea captures your imagination and attention in such a way that you get distracted from the…

Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work: Adopt a Different Writing Persona

This is a first in this humble blog’s history: Another Dumb Little Writing Trick That Work, only this one isn’t my idea, but from some…

Script To Screen: “Fight Club”

The ending to the 1999 movie Fight Club, screenplay by Jim Uhls, novel by Chuck Palahniuk.

Video: A Tribute to Director Steven Spielberg

From the Director’s Guild archives.

Page One: “Something Wicked This Way Comes” (1983)

Screenplay by Ray Bradbury, based on his novel

2022 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 30

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

What do you want the audience to feel…

…when they walk out of the theater at the end of your movie?

Writing and the Creative Life: What are you afraid of?

The single greatest inhibitor to creativity is fear. Do you recognize any of these voices?

Page One: “So I Married an Axe Murderer” (1993)

Written by Robbie Fox

2022 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 29

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Writing Advice from Matt Stone and Trey Parker

A video from a surprise appearance at NYU Film School.

Story Type: Ticking Clock

There are genres (e.g., Action, Comedy, Drama). Cross genres (e.g., Action-Thriller, Comedy-Science Fiction). Sub-genres (e.g., Romantic…

The Business of Screenwriting: They don’t think like you

Hollywood executives can have a different way of seeing the world.

Page One: “Solaris” (2002)

Screenplay by Steven Soderbergh, novel by Stanislaw Lem

2022 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 28

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

Create a Compelling Protagonist

Workshop and develop your story’s Protagonist in my one-week online class which begins Monday, October 10th.

A New Angle Into an Old Story

Looking for your next spec script subject? It just might be waiting for you in a history book.

Great Scene: “Scarface”

The violent ending of the 1983 movie.

Page One: “Snow White and the Huntsman” (2012)

Screenplay by Evan Daugherty and John Lee Hancock and Hossein Amini, screen story by Evan Daugherty

2022 Zero Draft Thirty September Challenge: Day 27

One month. FADE IN to FADE OUT. Creativity meets Productivity.

The Most Needed Quote on Writing

Perhaps not an inspirational quote, but a necessary one for writers.

How They Write A Script: Richard Matheson

Richard Matheson has written novels and short stories, as well as screenplays for both film and television. Notably he is among the few…